Joan McAlpine: 1. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on broadband roll-out in Dumfries and Galloway. (S5O-05106)
Joan McAlpine: I welcome the progress that will be made in the coming months, which will give more residents and businesses access to broadband. The minister is aware that mobile connectivity is also a challenge in Dumfries and Galloway. What is the Scottish Government doing to improve that, bearing in mind that both broadband and mobile connectivity, as part of the telecommunications sector, are matters...
Joan McAlpine: A YouGov poll for UN Women UK that was published this week found that nearly every young woman in the United Kingdom had suffered sexual harassment. Claire Barnett, executive director of UN Women UK, pointed out that it is a human rights issue. As Ms Barnett said, “It’s just not enough for us to keep saying, ‘this is too difficult a problem for us to solve’—it needs addressing...
Joan McAlpine: I welcome the cabinet secretary’s freedom of expression amendment and will of course support it. I also support amendment 1 in the name of Adam Tomkins. However, I do not think that either amendment goes far enough to protect people from vexatious complaints of hate crime. Adam Tomkins’s amendment might offer a defence in court, which is welcome, but it will not necessarily prevent...
Joan McAlpine: I recently met the Scottish Wedding Industry Alliance. The wedding industry is particularly important in Dumfries and Galloway. Although the sector is grateful for the support that it has received from the Scottish Government, it is asking for guidance on whether it can safely operate this summer. Many providers already have bookings, but guidance from the Competition and Markets Authority...
Joan McAlpine: The mobile testing units in Dumfries and Galloway have been doing an excellent job under difficult circumstances. However, I have been approached by a constituent who works in one who has told me that they are not classified as a front-line health worker and so are not in a priority group for the vaccine. Given that those workers—albeit with full personal protective equipment—are close to...
Joan McAlpine: I welcome the commitment to explore carers pay and look forward to the outcome of the talks that Kate Forbes is having with other parties on that matter. The issue will not be easy to deal with in the context of the UK’s public sector pay freeze, and it should be noted that the budget sets out a distinctive Scottish pay policy that, again, supports the lowest paid, charting a very different...
Joan McAlpine: I warmly welcome the Government’s announcement yesterday that all people with a learning disability will now be called for the vaccine in group 6. How will that information be conveyed to local health and social care partnerships, and are we confident that that group can all be identified through their NHS number?
Joan McAlpine: Following the publication of mortality data for people who have a learning disability in Scotland, the cross-party group on learning disability and Enable have asked the Government to ensure that every person with a learning disability in Scotland is supported to come forward for vaccination, including younger adults in care home settings, who are at particular risk. The First Minister will...
Joan McAlpine: On a point of order, Presiding Officer. My app also froze. I would have voted no.
Joan McAlpine: 6. To ask the Scottish Government what measures in its budget will provide support for town centres. (S5O-04998)
Joan McAlpine: What measures will the budget take to help to bring vacant and derelict land back into use?
Joan McAlpine: I, too, welcome the debate and thank Gillian Martin for lodging her motion, which draws attention to this critical issue. Before the arrival of Covid-19, women were already experiencing widespread economic inequality—for example, in their labour market participation and their income and living standards—and the pandemic has only exacerbated that. A vast amount of research, much of which...
Joan McAlpine: 1. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to figures published by the Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory, which state that people with a learning disability are three times more likely to die of Covid-19 and twice as likely to experience serious disease. (S5T-02654)
Joan McAlpine: Last year, Public Health England found that people with learning disabilities have a mortality rate that is six times higher than that of the general population, so there is already a body of evidence that that group is vulnerable. As the minister said, people with severe and profound learning difficulties are currently in priority group 6 for vaccination, but people with mild and moderate...
Joan McAlpine: The statement from the Scottish Commission on Learning Disability points out that general practitioner records might not accurately identify people with a learning disability. For example, those records do not tell us whether someone has severe or profound learning disabilities, so they might not get the prioritisation that they need. The commission says that people need clear guidance on...
Joan McAlpine: I very much welcome the cabinet secretary’s statement and the Scottish Government’s comprehensive approach. However, I want to raise a constituency issue. The Camphill community, which is a presence at Loch Arthur, in my South Scotland constituency, relies on young volunteer health and social care workers coming from Europe. The community has written to me, pointing out that its volunteer...
Joan McAlpine: I congratulate the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee on its inquiry and report, which I see was published last November and which has already begun to help to shape our agenda in the green draft budget. We were already planning our green future before Covid-19 came along, and, given the choice, that is where we would all have preferred to stay. Unfortunately, the virus did...
Joan McAlpine: Cabinet secretary, how will Dumfries and Galloway benefit from the Scottish Government’s infrastructure investment plan?
Joan McAlpine: It is clear that the agriculture sector is in need of urgent support to manage pressures arising from the red tape that Brexit has thrown up. The new limitations on exporting certain goods such as seed potatoes are particularly concerning. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the UK Government should be providing more support to businesses in the agriculture sector? Will he give more details...
